REPORT 


OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  PROPER 
ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  LAW  DEPARTMENT  OF 
CORNELL  UNIVERSITY. 


[submitted  to  the  board  oe  trustees,  and  adopted 

OCTOBER  27,    1886.] 


To  the  Honorable,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  > 

Cornell  University : 
Gentlemen — 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  held  June  16,  i886„ 
the  report  of  the  special  committee  on  the  question  of  establishing  a 
Law  Department  at  this  University  was  submitted  and  adopted,  and 
the  Executive  Committee  was  instructed  to  submit  at  a  future  meet- 
ing of  the  Board  a  plan  for  carrying  out  the  several  recommendations 
contained  in  the  report. 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions  the  Executive  Committee  beg 
leave  to  submit  the  following  suggestions  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Board. 

There  are  two  facts  that  make  it  somewhat  difficult  to  determine 
absolutely  upon  a  plan  of  organization.  The  first  is,  that  the  rules 
for  admission  to  the  bar  in  this  state  have  been  fixed  by  action  of  the 
Legislature  and  the  rules  of  the  higher  courts.  The  second  is,  that 
as  the  Faculty  of  the  new  Law  School  has  not  yet  been  appointed,  it 
is  impossible  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  opinions  of  those  who  will 
mainly  have  entrusted  to  them  the  work  of  carrying  out  the  plans 
adopted.  There  are,  however,  certain  general  features  which  we 
think  may  profitably  be  determined  at  the  outset.  It  will  be  con- 
venient to  consider  these  under  a  number  of  distinct  heads. 

I. — As  to  the  Length  of  the  Course  oe  Instruction. 

On  this  subject  there  is  some  difference  of  usage  even  among  the 
law  schools  of  the  highest  grade.  The  schools  at  Columbia  College 
and  the  University  of  Michigan  have  a  two  years'  course  of  nine 
months  each  year,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws.     At 


Columbia  College  provision  is  made  for  additional  studies  to  be 
carried  on  through  a  third  year.  At  Harvard  the  regular  course  ex- 
tends through  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which  the  student,  on  passing 
the  requisite  examination,  receives  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws. 
Provisions  are  made  at  Harvard,  however,  for  the  passing  of  inter- 
mediate examinations  in  case  of  ability  on  the  part  of  the  student  to 
do  so,  and  consequently  the  way  is  open  by  which  a  student  may,  in 
exceptional  cases,  receive  the  degree  in  two  years.  At  Yale  the 
normal  course,  leading  to  the  degree  of  LL.  B.  extends  through,  two 
years,  but  additional  courses  are  given  for  two  years  of  post-graduate 
work,  leading  to  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  If  we  were  free  to  consider 
the  question  from  what  may  be  called  an  ideal  point  of  view,  proba- 
bly a  course  of  three  or  four  years  would  seem  desirable.  But  the 
fact  that  the  rules  of  the  court  in  the  State  of  New  York  require  one 
year  of  study  in  an  office  before  an  applicant  can  be  admitted  to  the 
bar  makes  it  impossible  for  a  Law  School  to  require  that  the  whole 
time  of  the  student  should  be  devoted  to  studies  in  such  a  school. 
Consequently  we  are  practically  limited  to  a  normal  period  of  two 
years. 

The  period  of  instruction  should,  in  our  judgment,  extend  through 
the  college  year  of  nine  months,  and  should  in  all  respects  be  co- 
ordinate with  the  courses  at  present  existing  in  the  University. 

II. — Conditions  of  Admission  to  the  Cornell  Law  School. 

The  state  of  education  in  our  country  seems  to  make  it  necessary 
that  every  law  school  should  provide  for  two  classes  of  students  : 
those  who  have  received  the  regular  training  of  a  collegiate  course, 
and  those  who  have  not  had  the  advantage  of  such  a  training.  It  is 
true  that  at  some  of  the  law  schools  a  strenuous  effort  has  been  made 
to  raise  the  standard  of  scholarship  so  as  to  attract  students  who  have 
already  taken  a  baccalaureate  degree  ;  but  no  law  school  as  yet  has 
seen  its  way  clear  to  limit  its  members  to  such  as  have  completed  an 
undergraduate  course.  Nor  in  our  opinion  would  such  a  limitation 
be  wise.  Nobody  can  look  over  the  ranks  of  the  profession  without 
seeing  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  those  who  have  risen  to  high 
distinction  at  the  bar,  have  attained  their  eminence  without  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  preliminary  training  acquired  in  an  undergraduate 
course.  To  shut  off  the  large  class  of  able  and  ambitious  men  who 
find  it  impracticable  to  acquire  such  a  course  would  place  an  unjusti- 
fiable limitation  upon  the  number  that  could  profit  by  the  instruction 
afforded.  In  common  with  other  schools,  therefore,  we  find  our- 
selves obliged  to  provide  for  two  classes  of  students  that  have  had 
very   different   amounts  of  preliminary  training.     This   fact  makes 


it  necessary  that  we  decide  the  question  as  to  the  minimum  grade  of 
education  we  should  require  for  admission  to  the  school. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  provision  has  been  made  for  examina- 
tions b}'-  the  Board  of  Regents.  These  examinations  are  carried  to 
all  the  high  schools,  and  to  the  larger  number  of  the  academies  of 
the  State.  They  set  a  uniform  standard;  and  in  our  judgment,  the 
standard  required  for  the  Regents'  academic  diploma  should  be  the 
minimum  requirement  for  admission  to  the  Law  Department.  The 
applicant  should  be  required  either  to  bring  a  Regents'  diploma  or 
pass  an  examination  equivalent  to  the  examination  by  the  Regents. 
Practically,  therefore,  the  conditions  of  admission  to  the  L,aw  De- 
partment would  be  the  same  as  the  conditions  of  admission  to  the 
scientific  and  technical  courses  of  the  University  at  the  present  time. 

The  difference  between  the  ability  to  learn  on  the  part  of  students 
who  have  already  taken  a  bachelors  degree  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
ability  to  learn  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  admitted  on  the  Regents' 
academic  diploma,  or  its  equivalent  on  the  other,  will  still  divide  the 
students  into  two  somewhat  distinct  grades.  Although  it  should  be 
found  that  at  the  time  of  admission,  both  grades  are  equally  ignorant 
of  the  law,  it  will  certainly  be  shown  at  an  early  date  that  the  gradu- 
ate student  can  acquire  his  profession  very  much  more  rapidly  than 
can  the  student  who  has  had  simply  such  a  preparatory  training  as  is 
to^  be  obtained  in  the  academies  and  high  schools.  This  fact  is 
recognized  by  the  rules  of  our  courts  governing  the  time  of  prelimi- 
nary study  before  admission  to  the  bar.  The  embarassment  growing 
out  of  this  difference  is  probably  felt  in  every  law  school  in  the  land  ; 
and  the  most  marked  effect  of  it  is  ordinarily  to  reduce  the  time 
during  which  the  graduate  student  remains  at  the  law  school  to  a 
single  year.  In  some  of  the  best  schools  in  the  country  the  opinion 
prevails  that  the  graduate  student  can  learn  nearly  or  quite  as  much 
in  one  year  as  the  average  student  who  has  not  had  a  collegiate  course 
can  learn  in  double  that  amount  of  time.  The  consequence  is  that 
the  graduate  student  not  unirequently  thinks  it  a  misuse  of  time  to 
remain  a  second  year  for  the  sake  of  his  degree. 

The  most  obvious  way  in  which  this  tendency  can  be  satisfactorily 
met  is  through  the  advantages  offered  by  the  other  departments  of 
the  University,  especially  through  those  offered  by  the  department  of 
History  and  Political  Science.  Studies  in  the  constitutional  history 
of  Bngland  and  of  the  United  States,  in  the  development  of  constitu- 
tional law,  in  administrative  law,  in  the  historical  development  of  the 
common  law  and  of  the  civil  law,  in  the  history  of  political  theories 
and  ideas,  in  the  development  of  jurisprudence  as  a  science,  in  short, 


in  all  the  multiform  phases  of  what  we  know  as  political  science,  may 
be  made  to  supplement  the  studies  in  law  in  such  a  way  as  immensely 
to  broaden  the  education,  and  to  afford  the  student  every  possible  in- 
centive to  make  his  knowledge  as  thorough  and  as  extended  as  possi- 
ble. In  studies  of  this  class  our  University  affords  peculiar  advant- 
ages, and  the  details  of  the  work  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  present 
every  inducement  before  the  graduate  student  to  remain  here  during 
two  full  years.  On  this  point  we  desire  to  speak  with  especial  em- 
phasis. If  our  methods  of  administration  are  to  be  improved,  if  our 
civil  service  is  to  be  made  purer  and  more  efficient,  if  our  methods  of 
municipal  government  are  to  be  rescued  from  the  degradation  into 
which  they  have  so  generally  fallen,  if  legislation  is  to  be  lifted  up 
to  a  higher  plane,  it  is  to  be  in  large  measure  the  result  of  most  care- 
ful and  most  thorough  studies  carried  on  in  our  higher  institutions  of 
learning;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  class  of  men  are  to  be  so  well  situ- 
ated to  exert  a  powerful  and  uplifting  influence  on  the  condition 
of  the  country  as  those  who  are  thoroughly  educated  in  the  law  and 
in  the  various  branches  of  political  science.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  a  special  inducement  in  the  way  of  elective  studies  should  be 
offered  to  graduate  students.  To  this  end,  courses  in  the  Department 
of  History  and  Political  Science  should  be  marked  out  for  graduate 
students  that  will  enable  them  to  study  for  the  Master's  degree  at 
the  same  time  that  they  are  studying  for  the  degree  of  LL.  B. 

Such  an  arrangement  would  be  in  strict  accordance  with  the  meth- 
ods that  are  now  prevailing  in  our  best  law  schools.  At  Columbia 
College  provision  is  made  for  giving  at  the  end  of  three  years  of 
study  the  degree  of  Ph.  D.  in  addition  to  the  degree  of  LX.  B.,  and  at 
Harvard  University  the  Academic  Council  are  authorized  to  recom- 
mend the  degree  of  M.  A.  for  students  who  have  passed  a  satisfactory 
course  of  study  in  addition  to  the  required  work  of  the  law  school. 
A  judicious  arrangement  by  means  of  which  students  pursuing  their 
law  studies  could  also  take  elective  instruction  in  the  department  of 
History  and  Political  Science  would,  to  a  large  extent  at  least,  remove 
the  temptation  to  abandon  the  law  school  after  a  single  year  of  study. 
We  recommend,  therefore,  that  in  the  final  adjustment  of  courses 
the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  other  departments  of  the  University 
be  constantly  borne  in  mind. 

III. — Courses  of  Instruction. 

This  subject  is  one  which  in  its  details  must  be  left  for  adjustment 
by  the  Faculty  of  the  Department.  In  looking  over  the  branches 
that  are  taught  at  Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  Albany,  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  it  is  found  that  there  is  a  striking  similarity  in  the 


courses  offered.  This  similarity  is  the  result  of  the  necessities  of  the 
case.  The  elements  of  Municipal  Law  in  all  parts  of  the  country  are 
essentially  the  same  ;  and  it  is  upon  Municipal  Law  that  by  far  the 
greatest  stress  in  a  legal  education  must  be  placed.  The  number  of 
subjects,  therefore,  that  must  be  taught  in  our  Law  School,  is  fur- 
nished at  our  hand.     This  brings  us  to  the  next  question,  viz.  : 

IV. — The  Amount  of  Instruction  that  must  be  Provided. 

Formerly  it  was  the  custom  to  bunch  all  of  the  students  in  a  law 
school  together,  and  lecture  to  them  all  in  one  indiscriminate  mass, 
seniors  and  juniors  thus  receiving  the  same  instruction.  By  the  best 
schools  this  method  has  now  almost  or  quite  universally  been  aban- 
doned. The  two  classes  are  now  separated  the  one  from  the  other, 
and  the  instruction  given  to  the  juniors  is  quite  different  from  that 
given  to  the  seniors.  This  is  so  natural  a  method  that  it  is  difficult  to 
justify  any  other  arrangement.  We  ought  not  to  think  of  adopting 
any  other  plan  at  this  University.  The  junior  class  should  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  senior  class,  and  the  juniors  should  not  be  admitted  to 
the  exercises  of  the  senior  class  even  as  listeners  ;  but  seniors  should 
be  permitted,  and  even  encouraged  to  attend  the  lectures  given  to  the 
juniors.  Two  lectures  a  day  to  each  class  should  be  given.  It  will 
probably  be  found  convenient  to  have  the  more  formal  lectures  to 
each  class  given  at  consecutive  hours,  those  to  the  juniors  occupying 
two  hours  in  the  forenoon,  those  to  the  seniors  two  hours  in  the  after- 
noon. In  addition  to  these  lectures  there  must  be  regular  text  book 
work,  at  least  for  the  juniors,  and,  perhaps,  also  for  the  seniors.  A 
thorough  drill  in  Blackstone,  Kent,  and  probably  in  some  other 
elementary  text  books  should  be  insisted  upon.  This  work  could 
probably  be  well  done  by  an  assistant  professor.  Practicing  attorneys 
who  might  desire  the  advantage  of  the  lectures  should  be  admitted 
to  instruction  in  either  class  without  examination.  Moot  courts 
should  be  organized,  under  the  immediate  charge  of  the  professors,  to 
accustom  the  students  to  the  work  of  the  investigation,  the  prepara- 
tion and  the  trial  of  causes.  In  considering  the  amount  of  work 
that  will  thus  be  required  we  are  brought  to  the  next  topic,  viz.  : 

V. — The  Amount  and  Kind  of  the  Teaching  Force. 
An  inspection  of  the  announcements  of  the  schools  at  Harvard, 
Yale,  Columbia,  and  the  University  of  Michigan,  gives  the  following 
results  :  At  Harvard  instruction  is  given  by  four  professors  and  one 
assistant  professor,  all  of  whom,  apparently,  give  nearly  or  quite  their 
whole  time  to  the  school.  It  is  presumed  that  they  are  free  for  pur- 
poses of  counsel,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  either  of  them  is  so 
largely  engaged  in  active  practice  as  to  interfere  with  the  amount  or 


the  regularity  of  his  instruction.  At  Harvard  the  custom  appears  not 
to  prevail  of  inviting  in  lecturers  or  teachers  not  immediately  and 
constantly  connected  with  the  school.  At  Yale  there  are  also  four  pro- 
fessors, and  a  very  considerable  number  of  lecturers  on  special  subjects. 
Four  members  of  the  academic  Faculty  also  give  instruction  to  stu- 
dents who  take  a  graduate  course.  Apparently  four  professors  give  a 
very  considerable  share,  though  not  the  whole,  of  their  time  to  the 
work  of  instruction.  At  Columbia  College  the  major  part  of  the  work 
of  instruction  falls  upon  three  professors.  There  are,  however,  two 
special  lecturers,  besides  a  considerable  number  of  professors  in 
the  school  of  Political  Science,  who  give  instruction  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  law  school,  under  the  conditions  above  indicated.  At 
the  University  of  Michigan  there  are  four  professors  and  an  assist- 
ant professor,  two  of  the  professors  and  the  assistant  professor  resid- 
ing at  the  school,  the  others  coming  to  the  school  with  more  or  less 
regularity  throughout  the  year,  from  Detroit.  The  Detroit  members  of 
the  Faculty,  and  the  assistant  professor  are  actively  in  practice,  while 
the  two  resident  professors  devote  the  most  of  their  time  and  energy  to 
the  daily  work  of  the  law  school. 

If  we  are  to  put  ourselves  upon  the  plane  of  these  schools,  it  is 
easy  to  see  what  is  the  amount  of  instruction  that  will  be  needed. 
When  the  school  shall  be  thoroughly  established  the  equivalent  of 
four  or  five  professors  will  be  required.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means 
essential  that  the  full  number  should  be  constantly  at  the  University, 
or  even  that  they  should  reside  in  Ithaca.  On  the  contrary,  there 
would  be  unmistakable  advantages  in  having  at  least  a  part  of  the 
teaching  force  actively  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  courts.  It 
seems  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  a  part  of  the  teaching  force 
may  wisely  be  drawn  from  cities  in  the  vicinity,  wherever  suitable 
persons  for  giving  instruction  can  be  found.  But  while  this  is  the 
case,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  a  part  of  the  corps  of  instruction 
should  be  devoted  earnestly  to  the  daily  work  of  the  school.  This 
force  need  not  be  very  large.  It  ought,  however,  from  the  first  to 
consist  of  not  less  than  two  professors  and  an  assistant  professor.  If 
during  the  first  year  in  the  history  of  the  school,  no  attempt  should 
be  made  to  instruct  more  than  a  junior  class,  three  persons  well 
equipped  for  the  work  could  probably  give  all  the  needed  in- 
struction. But  this  could  only  be  done  in  case  the  persons  selected 
for  the  Faculty  should  have  their  knowledge  so  well  in  hand,  and  so 
organized  as  to  be  able  to  give  daily  instruction.  Upon  the  resident 
professors  for  the  most  part  the  character  of  the  school  must 
largely  depend.  The  greatest  care,  therefore,  must  be  taken  to  avoid 
errors  in  the  selection  of  the  resident  faculty. 


But  the  entire  burden  of  instruction  should  not  fall  upon  the  resi- 
dent professors.  Other  persons,  either  resident  or  non-resident, 
should  be  appointed  for  courses  of  lectures  on  special  subjects,  and 
these  courses  would  have  to  be  given  at  such  times  as-  would  ac- 
commodate the  special  lecturers. 

VI. — Rates  of  Tuition. 

Under  the  head  of  tuition  a  clearly  defined  policy  should  be  adopt- 
ed. Under  the  present  law  of  the  State  we  should  be  obliged  to  ac- 
cept the  State  scholarships  for  the  law  department ;  and  under  the 
present  law  of  the  University  we  should  also  be  obliged  to  give  gratui- 
tous instruction  to  graduate  students.  It  seems  to  us  questionable 
whether  the  people  of  the  State  will  desire  that  the  free  scholar- 
ships shall  go  to  those  who  are  preparing  themselves  for  practice  in 
the  law,  to  the  necessary  exclusion  of  the  same  number  who  are 
preparing  themselves  for  usefulness  by  pursuing  an  undergraduate 
course.  It  seems  to  us  also  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  Univer- 
sity should  gratuitously  educate  in  the  law  graduates  of  this  and  other 
universities.  In  our  judgment,  therefore,  a  tuition  fee,  the  same  as 
in  the  other  departments  of  the  University,  should  be  required  of  all 
students  of  the  new  department. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  we  recommend  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolutions  : 

i.  Resolved,  As  the  policy  of  this  Board  of  Trustees,  that  the  Fac- 
ulty of  the  Department  of  Law  at  Cornell  University  consist  of  the 
President  of  the  University,  a  resident  dean,  one  resident  professor, 
one  assistant  professor  and  such  non-resident  professors  and  lecturers 
as  may  from  time  to  time  be  appointed. 

2.  Resolved,  That  for  the  election  of  the  Faculty  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Law,  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  be  held  on 
the  third  Wednesday  in  January  next. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be"  authorized  to  pre- 
pare a  public  announcement  of  the  Law  School,  to  be  issued  as  soon  as 
practicable  after  the  appointment  of  the  members  of  the  Law  Faculty, 
such  announcement  to  be  framed  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
foregoing  report. 

4.  Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be,  and  are  hereby 
authorized  to  inquire  into  and  report  at  the  special  meeting  of  the 
Board,  on  the  changes  that  may  seem  to  be  desirable  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  History  and  Political  Science,  in  order  to  adapt  its  instruction 
to  the  needs  of  the  University  after  the  Law  Department  is  established. 


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